Weight Loss?

[Genealogist]

I have a question. I have been on the programme now for six weeks. Am about 4 stone overweight. Before I started I had been eating healthily and lost about a stone over the past year. I am eating the same way... very healthily, no second helpings and no big portions! Yet since the start of C25K I haven’t lost any weight at all. I know my shape is changing as my scales say my percentage body fat has gone down and I have lost over an inch off my waist. I also know that muscle weighs heavier than fat, so presume this is why my scales say I’m no lighter. Has anyone else experienced this and, if so, how long will it last?

[UnfitNoMore Graduate]

Yes, it’s pretty normal... and most new runners also learn about hydration and because of that are a couple of pounds heavier. Shouldn’t last too long, but the important thing isn’t weight, it’s fitness. There was a doctor on TV just yesterday saying to use a tape measure... his had red green and yellow bits and the green was healthy. Weight loss should resume soon, but being smaller and trimmer is great no?

[Shelley2310 Graduate]

I have stayed the same for 2 weeks, I go to the gym too. This week I’ve lost another lb so you will definitely start loosing again soon. Well done and good luck!

[siabod Graduate]

Hi I started c25k at 16.5 stone so that I could lose weight, I found that just by skipping breakfast I was losing weight steadily, then as I graduated and was running regular 5km's ,focusing a bit more on a healthy diet, it kept coming down to 14 stone. Now I have upped my mileage but I seem to be stuck at 14 stone, so I am having to take dieting a bit more seriously. Like you my legs have changed and I have had to put a new notch in my belt recently, but the weight has stayed at 14 stone.

I think part of the answer is that by just going to work at 16.5 stone burns up a lot more calories than going to work at 14 stone, and I spend a lot more time at work than I do running.

Also when I first looked at what weight I should be it said 10.5 stone, I thought this was nuts but now having lost 2.5 stone I can see that there is still more to lose.

Using the Nhs bmi calculator I am now just overweight and no longer obese!

[jessm_01]

When I started the app I was just going about my normal eating routine. I’m now into week 7 and felt I needed to step up keeping track of my food and water intake. I’m now on a calorie controlled diet and see how that takes me.

I am a lot firmer in places but I do want to shift some weight

[damienair Graduate]

I had lost weight due to running. But since June this year I had gained 10 pounds. Work, poor food choices and just not really watching what I was eating. I’m still running but need to do something different to shed the extra weight. I was 1.5 stone over weight. Last Thursday I joined a men’s weight watchers class. I religiously stuck to it, and ran and exercised. In 1 week I have lost 7 pounds. 1 more stone to go.

Running on its own unfortunately does not have much effect on weight loss. You trim up alright. But the old saying is still the rule. “Eat less and Exercise more.”

[Bloodhound1]

I am also in a stalled weight loss situation. I was rapidly heading towards 20 stone when I started out carefully watching what I ate (no crisps or sweets😭) and also walking every day ( aiming for the 10,000 steps a day. ) I dropped quite a lot ( over 40 lbs) over the next 4 months. I then started C25K, which I just finished today. but during the two months of the programme I have only lost 3 lbs. I also go to the gym for circuit training. Over all I feel so much fitter and have lost inches everywhere. But I still want to lose at least another stone (ideally 2 more) but it’s just not happening. And it’s frustrating when I compare how little I did before and how much I do now in terms of exercise. The advice I have had is to try a different type of exercise to supplement the running - will also hopefully help with the knee issues I have develop. I have still not decided between cycling ( seems a little dangerous) or a return to my old sport (of over 40 years ago) rowing but the time commitment is high. Both are low impact and may (???) kick start some more weight loss but i can’t find any definite advice. It seems to me that weight loss (if you want to lose it properly and slowly over a period and keep it off without massive ‘binge’ dieting with all the potential of diets to just put it back on again) is some sort of black-art. This is an interest thread I look forward to hearing from others- we don’t seem to be alone

[Red53 Graduate]

I didn't start c25k to loose weight but did start tracking this as I have progressed. I guess like you o did not drop much during the program untill the later stages when the duration increased. I did notice a reshaping though. Since graduation and starting to increase distance I have noticed a phase loss of weight, I loose some then stabilise as I consolidate at that distance then as I up the distance and duration my weight adjusts a cordingly. I started in July at 99kg and now I am around 94 running about 19-20km a week, so nothing spectacular. However, I feel so much better and healthier which is why I started.

[Lordi Graduate]

You would have to run a marathon to lose 1lb or 500g of fat. It's much easier to calorie restrict by 500 cals per day for a week than run a marathon (80kg person)! If after c25k you run 5k most days or start running longer distances, say up to 10k three times a week, then that would have the same effect as 500 cal/day restriction giving 1lb/week weight loss.

[Genealogist Graduate]

Thanks to all of you for your replies: all very interesting. I think I’ll just carry on as I am and see what happens! I was losing weight very slowly but very surely on what I was eating ( actually concentrating on eating things that are good for me rather than restricting calories) before I started the programme so I don’t suppose it will be too long before I start heading downwards again....hope not, anyway!

[Clarius]

Same here. Body shape has changed, but no weight loss. I assume I'm converting fat to muscle. Anyway, happy being sans love-handles. Luck.

[LittleLath]

I’d lost 16lb from when I first started, but not my weight has plateaued but my shape is still changing and inches are gradually coming off. I’m working with a proper nutritionist who works for Warwickshire county cricket club. He said to ignore the scales as water intake can make a massive difference to your weight on the scales and focus on what your clothes feel like on you etc.

[Genealogist Graduate in reply to LittleLath]

He sounds like a sensible chap!

[John_W Graduate Ambassador]

As Lordi suggests above, unless you start running for long periods of time (say, over 1 hour), then I'm afraid running in itself isn't great for weight-loss.

- 1 mile of 'running' burns off about 100 calories

- 5k (3.1 miles) burns off about 300 calories (half a burger, 2 glasses of wine?)

So completing C25K and continuing with 30 minute runs has a limited impact on your weight. But what it can do, is make you think about what/how/when you eat, and your overall lifestyle, particularly if you get 'into' running' and want to carry on, maybe getting faster or running longer distances.

If you can build up to running for over an hour and combine that with healthier eating, I'm sure you'll see positive effects in all aspects of your life.

Good luck!

John

[Genealogist Graduate in reply to John_W]

Thanks John, I’m already doing the healthier eating so I’ll just wait for time now. I’m sure it’ll work eventually. 😃